Publications

With every Exchange, the "model" is refined. The Chesapeake Bay Exchange has proven to be particularly important in this regard. It is the first Exchange to have been undertaken within one ecosystem. Although the Bay watershed is large (comprising 64,000 squar miles), it has been possible for organizers from the three case studies to meet to share experiences and ideas and it is anticipated that they will continue to do so. It is also the first Exchange in which the members of the regional steering committee have committed to support post-Exchange activities at the local level. Another first was the participation of our colleagues from the Grench Regional Natural Park system, who have broadened the program's international scopte.

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Recently, there has been a collectiveeffort to investigate an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management in Chesapeake Bay. That is, an approach that considers the many interactions that exist between managed fish populations, their predators, competitiors and prey species and acknowledge the effects of fishing on the ecosystem. the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement requires the development of "ecosystem-based multispecies management plansn for targeted species" by 2005 and to "revise and implement existing fisheries management plans to incorporate ecological, social and economic considerations, multispecies fisheries management, ad ecosystem approaches" by 2007. Continued modification and evolution of fisheries management is expected, both at the management and technical levels, as changes in management strategies are further developed to reach these commitments.

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A comprehensive approach to managing Chesapeake Bay fisheries is needed because biological, physical, economic, and social aspects of the fisheries are shared among the Bay's jurisdidictions. The Chesapeake Bay Program's Living Resources Subcommittee formed a Fisheries Management Workgroup to address the commitment in the Bay Agreement for comprehensive, baywide fishery management plans. The workgroup is composed of members from government agencies, the academic community, the fishing industry and public interest groups representing the District of Clumbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the federal government.

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The objective of the Chesapeake Bay Basin Monitoring Program Atlas is to provide a source of information under one cover, describing current long-term environmental monitoring programs iin the Chesapeake Bay basin. Its structure reflects the interests of program coordinators, managers and researcher in the Bay basin states but readers from any organization should find it informative. We hope that its publication will result in increased coordination and integration of environmental monitoring programs between jurisdictions and across various areas of concern, and ultimately encourage the collection of comparable monitoring data basinwide.

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Responding toa request from Congress, the National Park Service (NPS) has been exploring the potential for a new unit of the National Park System focused on the Chesapeake Bay. This executive summary provides an overview of the product of that effort--the Final Chesapeake Bay Special Resource Study and Environmental Impact Statement. The study does three important things. These are described on the following pages. The entire final study report is available at: www.chesapeakestudy.org.

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Analysis of long term juvenile and adult fishery-independent surveys conducted in Chesapeake Bay (Maryland and Virginia trawl surveys, Calvert Cliffs crab [pt survey and Baywide winter dredge survey) indicate that blue crab abundance is below average and in decline in recent years. The current status of the stock was compared to threshholds and targets endorsed by regional management agencies. Exploitable stock abundance was above the overfished threshold in 2000 but below the action threshold for the fourth consecutive year (Figure 1). Data and biological reference points are available in the report.

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We now recognize that forests along waterways, also known as "riparian forests", are an important resource that protects water quality and provides habitat and food necessary to support fish survival and reproduction. Used as buffers, riparian forests provide a means of helping us achieve our restoration goals in the tributaries. to be most effective, riparian forest buffers need to be planned and implemented on a watershed scale. This allows for a continuous forested buffer linking the headwaters withdownsteam areas. Riparian forest buffers exert the greatest control over small streams.

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The results show that much of the bottom is indeed highly unfavorable for living organisms although some areas are still healthy. The waters above the bottom, however, are mostly of better quality than many people would imagine. It is highly probable that the remarkable natural flushing rate of the Hargor it exchanges water with the Chesapeake Bay ehlps to reduce the degradation of the water column as an environment for living animals and plants. These studies will have value in protecting resources in some parts of the Harbor area, guiding the rehabilitation of other regions, and achieving the best possible balance among the users of the waterway, which is at once part of a large city and part of the mostn valuable estuarine system in the nation.

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September 2016 issue of the biannual newsletter of the Sustainable Fisheries Goal Implementation Team.

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